The Good Days II: The Search for Glenda - Part Two

The water surrounding the rowboat seemed calm, but it
was anything but that. Renaline looked into the water and saw strange shadows
moving slowly from beneath the boat.

"Celia, what colour is the amulet?" Renaline
asked.

Celia gasped. "It's bright red!" the little
Usul said.

"Paddle away from here!" Renaline shouted. "It's
too dangerous!"

Verila took the paddles and paddled away from
the area as fast as she could. But she couldn't get away from the area fast
enough. A huge Jetsam jumped out of the water and bit Renaline on the arm.

"Ow! Ow!" Renaline screamed, holding her arm.

The Jetsam attempted to bite a piece off the
rowboat, but Verila paddled away fast enough to get away from it. As she paddled
quickly, she could hear the Jetsam yelling "I'll get you next time!"

"That was a close one," said Celia. The gem
on the amulet changed back to green. "Verila, do you happen to have any sort
of paper with you?"

"Paper?" Verila asked. "Well…I guess so." Verila
put her paw in her pocket and pulled out a very small book.

"I read this book when I was a small child,"
said Verila. "It's quite useless to me now."

Celia took the book. The Usul was an avid reader,
and because she had nothing to read for the past weeks, she opened the book
and began to read.

"The history of Meridell is exceedingly problematical…"
Celia read. "Whoa! You read this when you were a small child!? I can't pronounce
any of those words!"

"Not many children can," said Verila. "I was
quite intelligent for my age, and I still am."

"Whatever." Celia tore out the first page of
the complicated book and wrapped it around Renaline's arm.

"Thanks," said Renaline. "It's my turn to paddle
tonight, but I can't. Will you take my turn?"

"Of course," said Celia. "You're my good friend,
and I would do anything for you."

***

Night fell upon the ocean. As Celia paddled,
Renaline and Verila lay down and stared at the twinkling stars.

"That's Nokiocerus," said Verila. "It's the
star of knowledge. And that one up there is Lakanananafero, the star of know-it-all
Yurbles. It's my personal favourite."

"Are there any good stars up there?" Renaline
asked.

"Good stars?" said Verila. "What do you mean?
These are good stars!"

"I mean, like…wishing stars," said Renaline.
"Stars that you make a wish upon, and the wish hopefully comes true."

"Ah, yes," said Verila. "That big one, straight
ahead."

Renaline stared deeply at the star for a few
seconds, then spoke. "I wish that the good days would come again," she whispered.

"The good days?" Verila asked. "What are the
good days?"

"The good days are the days where wishes come
true, and nothing bad ever happens. I had my good days a long time ago. But
now, everything is over, and I am stuck in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean."

"Oh," said Verila. "I hope you get your wish,
then."

"I do too," said Renaline. At that moment, she
fell asleep. Verila fell asleep soon after.

***

Renaline awoke that morning to a great shock.
The typical feeling of the rowboat rocking back and forth through the waves
was gone. As she opened her eves, she saw nothing but sand. Celia had already
left the boat and was sitting on the sand, waiting for Renaline and Verila to
awaken.

"Oh well, get Verila to help!" said Celia, still
kicking and punching and being extremely non-successful.

"Verila, can you give us a hand here?" Renaline
asked.

"Well, I guess I could," said Verila. She held
the amulet in her paw (which was bright red) and ran towards the Myncis.

"What do I do now?" Verila asked, trembling.

"I don't know!" said Celia, who was becoming
exhausted but would not give up. "Whack them in the face! Throw the amulet at
them! Whatever!"

Verila was considering throwing the amulet.
She knew that it did no good from her battle experience, but it was worth a
try. She threw the amulet as hard as she could towards Toki and the other two
Myncis.

KABOOM!

The amulet exploded in a gigantic puff of red
smoke. When the smoke cleared away, you could see the three Myncis lying on
the ground.

"Oh, Renaline! Oh, Celia! I am so glad to see
you two again!" Glenda hugged both of them at once. Then, she noticed Verila.
"Who have we here?" she asked.

"I am Verila," said the Yurble. "I come from
Meridell. I was drowning, but these two girls rescued me."

"Good job, girls," said Glenda. "We must get
back to the mansion. And how about on the way, we take Verila back to Meridell?"

"Good idea, Glenda," said Renaline. "I'll get
in the rowboat, and-"

Renaline turned around, and realized that the
rowboat had floated away with the tide.

"Oh, no!" said Celia. "It's gone! What do we
do now?"

"Let Verila think of a solution," said Renaline.
"She's the smartest out of all of us."

"Hmm…" Verila sat by a tree and began to think.
A minute later, she jumped up. "Eureka!"

"What is it?" Celia asked.

"We write 'S.O.S.' in the sand! Someone will
come and save us!" said Verila.

"Great idea," said Celia. Why didn't we think
of that?" Celia, Renaline and Glenda had just realized how stupid they really
were.

"I'll write it in the sand with my hooves,"
said Glenda. The Uni proceeded to a large area of sand and wrote "SOS" in big,
messy letters.

"The sun is setting, and I haven't had a good
night's sleep in days," said Glenda. "Why don't we all get some rest before
we get rescued?"

"Good idea," said Renaline. She, Glenda, Celia
and Verila all laid down in the sand and dreamt sweet dreams of home.

***

As the sun rose the next morning, an Eyrie with
a cart attached to his back landed on the island of Erukalotho. He saw the four
friends sleeping, and figured that these were the ones that needed help.

"Wake up, you sleepyheads!" the Eyrie shouted.
Renaline, Celia, Verila and Glenda all woke up and saw the Eyrie.

"Have you come to rescue us?" Renaline asked.

"I sure have!" said the Eyrie. "Where are you
going?"

"I'm going to Meridell," said Verila. "These
three are headed for some mansion somewhere."

"The mansion is in Neopia Central," said Glenda.
"133233 Winding Wood Drive. Do you happen to know where that is?"

"Oh, that place!" said the Eyrie. "Everyone
on board!"

Renaline and the other climbed into the Eyrie's
cart, and the Eyrie took off. From the cart, they could see everything from
Mystery Island to the Lost Desert. The cart eventually landed on the coastline
of Meridell, where Verila was found.

"Welcome back home!" said the Eyrie as Verila
climbed out of the cart. The very first figure she saw was none other than Kayla
herself.

"Verila!" Kayla shouted, hugging her sister.

"Kayla!" Verila shouted back.

"Did you find my amulet?" Kayla asked.

"Well…yes and no," said Verila. "I destroyed
it, but it was to save those three girls in the cart and myself."

"Good for you, Verila!" said Kayla. "You saved
some lives! That is something that only a true Meridell warrior would do. Come
on, let's go home."